U.S. Pat. No. 5,930,428 discloses an on-board system comprising equipment that receives a removable module known as a line replaceable unit (LRU); the LRU module having a connector with an active optoelectronic device connected thereto.
That known system serves in particular to avoid having connection fibers present between the connector and the associated optoelectronic device disposed on a printed circuit card behind the connector, thereby reducing the overall bulk of the system.
In general, known systems can present the following drawbacks:                the connectors are adapted to specific applications, each type of connector having a predetermined number of optoelectronic converters disposed at specific locations;        a connector presenting a relatively large number of optoelectronic converters receives a correspondingly smaller number of contact elements because of the size and the shape of the optoelectronic converters; and        mounting an optoelectronic converter in the connector is relatively complex and must in general be performed on the premises of the connector manufacturer.        